Thread-cutting thimble



Jan. 10, 1950 E. D. GORKA ET AL 2,494,439

THREAD CUTTING THIMBLE Filed OCL. 22, 1945 INVENTORS. f/y/wf' 0. G20/'fea /W/naf' 5, 6/'0/60/7 Patented Jan. 10, 12950 'uN-iran :STATE rIhis invention relates to thimbles of the character employed to protect the end of .the nger when sewing and the primary aim is the provision of a protecting sewing '.thimble having as a part thereof a unique means for cutting threads without removing the thimble from its operative position ori-the finger ofthe wearer.` i

'One of the important aims of this inventio is to provide a thread cutting thimble, the cutting elementwhereof iis 'fully protected against l accidental contact and whichhas a unique pro- Ytective`V guard that yields upon :application of va thread thereagainst to allow the thread to encounter the cutting edge and thereby be severed.

Specific structural details of the thimble having characteristics above set down constitute very important aims of the invention and include the unique manner of disposing a protecting spring adjacent to the cutting edge of a disc that is held in place beneath a removable cap on the end of the thimble and the form of the said cap, disc and spring, all as will be more fully hereinafter described by reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a thread cutting thimble made pursuant to our invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central sectional view taken on line II--II of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the thimble on an enlarged scale illustrating the manner of drawing a thread against the edge of the cutting disc.

It is realized that sewing thimbles having means for severing thread have heretofore been developed but their commercial acceptance has been nil due to expense in manufacture, failure to perform the cutting function with ease and despatch and inability of the parts to prevent accidental engagement with the cutting edge. Replaceability of the cutting element has also been overlooked and since the shortcomings of thimbles heretofore produced are eliminated in the thread cutting thimble having our improvements therein, the same should be an important step forward in this particular art.

The form of thimble chosen for illustration comprises a conventional hollow body I0 having a cavity I2 therein for the reception of the end of the nger of the wearer. The top surface I4 of body lil is substantially flat and there is an annular groove I6 formed around the outer periphery of body Ii) immediately adjacent to and below surface I4. The cutting disc i8 has a sharpened, continuous annular edge 20 provided thereon and a central perforation 22 through THREAD-CUTTING. @einem Elynor'l). Gorka and Minor-35. Gideon,

Kansas City`,"Mo.

Appiication October 22, 1945, LS-eriallNo.'623;642. s claims. (erzeugt) am f oFF-ICE .whichpassesuscrew 2 'to threadingly engage a socket .2.2 in cap. This cap 28 should be formed of` the same .material aslthat 'from .which body Il) is created in order to establish uniformof appearance fand .the --outer `surface .30 of `cap` 23 :should .be .convex 4to .recede gently from .its annulai-.edge that .lies just above the cutting edgeZEiof disc .I 8.v j

Theprotecting. element vofthe thimble is a sspecially.iornied .coil spring 32 .in the ynature of acontinuousv annulu-s and .having the .convolutions .in cross proximity.. .In .other words, the coils' .of [spring i132 -are in .contact .throughout .the 'length of 4the spring and no openings are present until a thread 313 is drawn against spring 32 to spread apart two adjacent convolutions of spring 32. rIhis particular action is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 where the thread or the like 34 is in contact with cutting edge 26 of disc I8 and spring 32 has been spread to receive the thread. The outside diameter of spring 32 is slightly greater than the diameter of disc I8 and the relation of these two parts is as shown in the sectional view oi Fig. 2.

Spring 32 is nested in annular groove I6 and when a disc I8 is to be renewed, removal of screw 2li, cap 28 and disc I8 will not cause spring 32 to jump from its operative position. The depth of groove I6 is not great enough to hold spring 32 out of contact with the lower surface of disc I8 and therefore, a full protective function is permitted. The entire length of cutting edge 2@ is guarded by spring 32 and only upon the application of force to a thread 34 will spring 32 allow contact with the cutting edge.

Having thus described the invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A thimble comprising a hollow body; a cutting disc secured to the closed end of the body with a marginal edge thereof projecting radially beyond the outer surface of the body; and a coil spring surrounding the body in contacting relationship with the cutting disc below the marginal edge thereof, the outside diameter of the spring being greater than the diameter of the cutting disc.

2. A thi-mble comprising a hollow body; a cutting disc secured to the closed end of the body with a marginal edge thereof projecting radially beyond the outer surface of the body; and a coil spring surrounding the body in contacting relationship with the cutting disc below the marginal edge thereof, the outside diameter of the spring being greater than the diameter of the cutting disc, the coils of said spring being in close proximity to completely cover one side of the disc, the coils being separable by the thread when drawn therebetween toward the edge of said disc.

3. A thimble comprising a hollow body; a cut,.-A ting disc secured to the closed end of the body with a marginal edge thereof projecting radially beyond the outer surface of the body; and a coil spring surrounding the body immediately below the marginal edge of the cutting disc, said coil spring having an outside diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the cutting disc.

4. A thimble comprising a hollow body; a cutting disc secured to the closed end of the body with a marginal edge thereof projecting radially beyond the outer surface of the body; and a coil spring surrounding the body immediately below the marginal edge of the cutting disc. said coil spring having an outside diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the cutting disc, said body having an annular groove formed therein immediately below the projecting edge of the cutting disc to receive the inner portion of the coil spring.

5. A thimble comprising a hollow body; a cutting disc secured to the closed end of the body with a marginal edge thereof projecting radially beyond the outer surface of the body; and a coil spring surrounding the body immediately below the marginal edge of the cutting disc, the outside diameter of the spring being greater than the diameter of the cutting disc, said disc having a cap overlying the same to hold disc in position,

the diameter of the cap being slightly less than the diameter of the cutting disc.

6. A thimble comprising a hollow body; a cutting disc secured to the closed end of the body with a marginal edge thereof projecting radially beyond the outer surface of the body; a coil spring surrounding the body immediately below the marginal edge of the cutting disc, the outside diameter of the spring being greater than the diameter of the cutting disc; a cap overlying the disc; and a screw passing through the thlmble body and the disc into threaded engagement with the cap whereby the cutting disc may be quickly removed and replaced, the upper and outer face of the cap being convex to recede from the cutting edge of the disc.

ELYNOR D. GORKA. MINOR B. GIDEON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,293,319 Boulter Feb. 4, 1919 1,705,007 Feer Mar. 12, 1929 2,098,036 Gore Nov. 2, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 135,791 Austria Dec. 11, 1933 

